USA - R&B artist R. Kelly recently wrapped up a European leg of his Love Letter world tour that sees him playing shows across the US this summer. Lighting director for the tour is Alex Skowron who programmed and operates the show on a Martin Professional M1 lighting console.

"I've been programming on a Maxxyz since 2006 and made the transition over to the M1 on this tour. The M1 is noticeably faster than its predecessor," says Skowron.

"The bulk of my work is overseas, so I'm constantly repatching and cloning shows to accommodate local gear, so for the console to execute these tasks in a timely fashion means hours saved reproducing the show.

"One of its greatest benefits is its size. To have all the capability of a full size console in such a small footprint, and to be able to check it as luggage and travel with it around the world is priceless. I

UK - MHA Lighting has been recognised for its outstanding performance by being shortlisted in the Energy Innovation Awards 2011.

The Atherton-based lighting specialist was today announced as a finalist in the Existing Performance Improvement category. The winner will be announced at a gala dinner at The Hilton, Manchester, on 23 June 2011.

The awards, now in their second year, are the brainchild of the world-class Energy Innovation Centre, and celebrate the outstanding achievements of individuals and organisations flying the flag for energy innovation and sustainability.

Entries were received from across the UK and as far afield as Eastern Europe, from a wide range of organisations including start-ups, research centres and multinational organisations.

MHA Lighting managing director Tom Harrison said, "Innovation is paramount to tackling national and global energy dema

Kuwait - Hala Febrayer is Kuwait's leading music and poetry festival and one of the cultural highlights of the Gulf, attracting some of the most creative and talented musicians, singers, writers and intellectuals from across the Arab world.

Currently in its twelfth year, the series of concerts was televised by Kuwaiti TV Network Al-Watan over the course of several nights, starting 3 February 2011.

Once again, ACT Lighting Design of Brussels, Belgium were invited to design the production and given responsibility for the set design, lighting design, and video content. The challenge was how to raise the bar set high from the previous year. ACT principal Koert Vermeulen took on the role of lighting and production designer working alongside ACT set designer Marcos Vinals.

The team proposed a striking design dominated by concentric rings of video arranged in stacks across the stag

Sweden - Seeking to satisfy his curiosity, or perhaps confirm industry buzz, Stephan Aue, lighting and scenic designer for Swedish electronica band Covenant, decided to see how bright the compact Martin MAC 101 really was.

"When I started using them I was blown away by the light output they had and amazed by their physical size and weight," Aue comments. "The low power consumption and the easy cabling due to PowerCon outlets were the final argument to bring them on a small club tour with a low budget and limited transport capabilities."

Aue, who also serves as lighting op for part of the band's Modern Ruin tour that has the band touring Europe throughout the year, is using 24 of the compact wash lights, which he transports in a single Sprinter van. Lighting supply is by Ambion GmbH.

"This is by far the smallest lamp I had on the tour when it c

UAE - Ampco returned to the simmering heat of Abu Dhabi this spring for the third WOMAD (World of Music and Dance) event to be staged in the UAE capital, supplying audio control and crew for the festival's three main stages.

Staged by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and WOMAD, the multi-cultural festival is unusual among international events in being staged in two separate locations. Three stages grace the Abu Dhabi Corniche beach's white sands, while the historic Al Jahili Fort in the desert town of Al Ain provides a picturesque setting for two further stages. In all the festival attracted some 22,000 people a day, a total of 80,000 over the weekend.

Artists included Paloma Faith (United Kingdom), Baaba Maal (Senegal), Toumani Diabaté (Mali), Tarab Al Emarat (United Arab Emirates), Hindi Zahra (France/Morocco), El Tanbura (Egypt), Jimmy Cliff (

UK - Each year the UK's Comic Relief appeal seems to go from strength to strength, with some of the biggest names in comedy and entertainment coming together with a simple plan to 'do something funny for money'.

So far this year, £74,360,207 has been raised, proving that even in a recession, people can still find it in themselves to dig deep and do their bit for others.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) showed its support by supplying lighting equipment for the Red Nose Day event, which was filmed live at BBC Television Centre (TVC). The show was themed with a bright new bubble-themed set, and once again lighting designer Chris Kempton (and his trusted team) were invited back to design the lighting. Bill Peachment assisted as moving light operator.

Consisting of over 200 lights, a substantial lighting rig illuminated the various stages and catwalks used by the show hosts t

Europe - Effective immediately, Philips Vari-Lite has announced the realignment of its European distribution of products, parts, and support services.Through an agreement reached with Production Resource Group, L.L.C. (PRG), Philips Vari-Lite will assume control of relationships with current and future Vari*Lite dealers and will now provide goods and service direct from the company headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

"This is a very exciting development" said Bob Schacherl, Philips Vari-Lite vice president of sales and marketing. "We are grateful to PRG Europe Distribution (PRGED) for their years of dedicated service as our European master distributor. We look forward to taking full control of these relationships in order to further solidify the strength of the Philips Vari-Lite brand and significantly grow sales within the greater European market."

In order to

Austria - A debate on Austria's most explosive political issue takes place every Sunday evening as part of the widely viewed "im Zentrum" TV programme. The show is produced and broadcast by ORF and was recently relocated. The outdoor entrance area of their headquarters and central production facility in Vienna now makes up the visual back-drop for the set.

Outdoor RGB LED fixtures were chosen by lighting designer Reinhard Traxler to put a splash of colour on an outdoor reflection pond that is centrally located in, and the visual focus of, the area. ArcSouce RGBW LED fixtures from Robe were used to paint the facade of the building in a warm welcoming tone and to highlight the ORF logo and other decorative elements used in the show.

The lighting fixtures are all located on the outside of the building and the control of the fixtures is located inside the building and co

Ireland - Belfast and Dublin based lighting and rigging rental specialist, Production Services Ireland (PSI) supplied lighting equipment and crew to Katherine Jenkins' two arena shows in Ireland, at Dublin's O2 and Belfast's Odyssey Arena.

That weekend and the preceding week were exceptionally hectic for the company, which also - unexpectedly and at very short notice - was asked to provide and install rigging and trussing to facilitate lighting of the church for Irish politician Garret Fitzgerald's state funeral.

The same weekend as the Jenkins shows, PSI supplied lighting design and equipment for the first Clan Wars cage fight to be staged in Belfast's Ulster Hall, and a few days before that, lit the Northern Ireland Tourism Awards event.

PSI was asked to supply the Katherine Jenkins shows by Neil MacDonald of UK based production company, Clockwork Productions. With

UK - At ABTT 2011, Martin Professional will be displaying its broad portfolio of lighting and video display products specifically designed to enhance theatre environments.

The EC-20 LED display panel combines the image quality and precision of conventional high resolution screens (20mm pixel pitch) with the creativity and low weight of mesh type screens. The EC-20 is semi-transparent and is designed for fast setup and teardown in combination with maximum flexibility and easy serviceability.

The MACIII Performance is a high-output profile moving head with a new interleaved framing system with full crossover of each blade and industry-first continuous rotation for new projection, framing and effects possibilities. It is available as a stand-alone fixture or as an easy-to-swap module that installs in minutes on any MAC III Profile, eliminating the need to invest in two separate f

USA - A flat LED par, a LED bar with a wireless infrared remote and a mini LED par with smooth RGBW colour mixing are among the new LED lighting fixtures American DJ will be introducing at InfoComm 2011 in Orlando next week.

The Micro Wash LED Mini Par's features include flicker-free operation, DMX-512, strobing, electronic dimming and a three-button DMX display on the rear panel. Its dual bracket system enables the Micro Wash LED Mini Par to be hung or set on the ground, allowing it to be used for a multitude of applications, including performances, retail lighting and table spotting.

Flat Par TRI18 is an ultra-bright, slim par can with 18 3-watt TRI LEDs (3-in-1 RGB), designed for performance stages where traditional par cans would emit a lot of heat on to performers. This professional "low profile" LED par can does not cast any RGB shadows and features seven diffe

India - The run of international trade shows continued for Robe with PALM Expo at the Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Mumbai where Robe exhibited on the stand of its distributor, Integrated Entertainment Solutions (IES).

The show was extremely busy and saw a full range of the latest Robe products demonstrated including the MMX Spot, the Robin 600 series including the LEDWash 600, the ColorSpot & Wash 2500E AT Series and the new DigitalSpot 3500DT.

Robe Lighting was represented at the exhibition by sales director Harry von den Stemmen and Middle East regional sales manager Elie Batah, with Petr Vanek on hand for technical support and live demonstrations.

(Jim Evans)

Italy - Having used RCF's TT+ Touring & Theatre series successfully in the past, production on Vasco Rossi's 2011 tour has stepped up to RCF's TTL55-A three-way active line array system for the main PA rig, with the TTL33-A for the reinforcement systems and TT45SMA cabinets for the stage monitors.

Rossi's stage manager Diego Spagnoli comments, "I've always believed in placing my trust in people who have earned it. This year seemed like the right time to let people know that we need to be proud of our Italian heritage - Italian industry has scaled incredible heights, and I feel honoured to be able to bring my support to this project."

Willy Gubellini's Bologna based Nuovo Service Rental Company has worked alongside many top musicians over the years. This summer they will deliver Vasco's music to audiences via some 120 TTL 55-A array lines, 60 TTS 56-A subwoofers, and

UK - Black Light has helped one of the UK's most successful 'stand-up scientists' blow away audiences at the 2011 Edinburgh International Science Festival. As a finale to Dr. Bunhead's Pyromania shows at the Usher Hall, Black Light created a pyrotechnic spectacular which, almost literally, brought the house down.

Dr. Bunhead (who also goes by the off-stage name of Tom Pringle) is a well-known science communicator who has performed over 1,600 shows around the world. He specialises in using dramatic experiments, flashes and bangs to bring science to life. For his two show contribution to the International Science Festival, Tom needed to produce an even bigger spectacle than usual and turned to Black Light's technical manager Craig Collin for help.

"Impeccably professional, Craig's pyro performance exceeded what I hoped to achieve," says Pringle. "I was trul

Germany - When this year's European Song Contest took place last month in Düsseldorf, it was only the second time the event had been held in Germany since the contest began.

Again representing her country was Hannover-born Lena, who won the event in Oslo last year with the song Satellite. In the meantime the artiste has continued to promote her new album Good News with a series of nine recent concerts in Germany's major cities.

Also along for the ride was lighting designer Jerry Appelt, who has previously designed for events like Echo, The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 itself - and musicians such as Sarah Connor, Rosenstolz, Scooter and Ronan Keating.

Jerry Appelt realised from the beginning that the incoming show needed a lighting concept that has a lot of video and fast-moving content to meet the expectations of a predominantly young audience. "The MTV G

UK - Clay Paky's Sharpy spotlights have been used at the 2011 NME awards, appearing in front of some of the best-known names of the indie rock scene. The event was held at London's Brixton Academy, where lighting designer Tim Routledge created the looks for a show that included performances by The Foo Fighters, PJ Harvey and My Chemical Romance.

Besides lighting the show for the benefit of the live audience, Routledge also had the responsibility of making sure everything was lit to standard for broadcast on Channel 4 television.

Richard Martin Lighting supported the main lighting suppliers Lite Alternative by providing 20 of their most recent and popular purchase, the Clay Paky Sharpy.

Commenting on his choice of equipment, Routledge said: "The NME awards are a challenge. Turnaround time is short, and a restricted budget meant I was looking for something that could crea

USA - Elation Professional has entered into an agreement with Production Exchange to establish a sub-portal on the company's interactive website that will allow customers to locate and rent Elation lighting and video products online.

The new Production Exchange portal offers a convenient way for customers to search for specific Elation products and find out within minutes who has them available for rent. Up-to-the-minute information is made possible, because the portal is seamlessly integrated into the rental management software of a network of Elation dealers throughout the nation, says the company.

Eric Loader, director of sales for Elation Professional comments, "We decided to establish our Production Exchange portal because we were getting so many calls from customers asking, 'Do you know who has this or that product for rent?'. Now designers and installers will be ab

UK - Nick Gray of London- based creative lighting design practice, Renegade, has designed the lighting for the current Kasabian tour, which saw the UK indie rockers play several warm-up shows ahead of headline slots at leading UK festivals, Rockness in Inverness and the Isle of Wight, as well as Rock Werchter in Belgium.

Renegade has worked with the band for the last four years, each time developing a different and strong visual theme for their live performances.

Gray's design is based around two trussing arches which move into three different positions during the show, starting in a position flat to the stage. These are automated via a Kinesys system which is supplied by the tour's lighting contractor Neg Earth. The show is operated on the road by Paul Kell (PK) working for Renegade.

The starting point for this design - key elements of which will also be condensed into a fl

UK - Two of the UK's best known entertainment technology providers have reached their 40th anniversaries in 2011.

Northern Light and White Light, based in Edinburgh and London respectively, were both formed in 1971 - the same year in which the UK and Ireland switched to decimal currency - and are planning a joint celebration to mark 40 successful years of serving the technical requirements of the entertainment industry.

Bryan Raven, managing director of White Light, said: "Where better to hold a celebration of our 40th anniversaries than during the ABTT Theatre Show? The whole industry turns out for this annual event and it's an ideal opportunity to buy them a drink to celebrate our birthdays."

Colin Cuthbert, managing director of Northern Light, added: "Make mine a double, Bryan."

The companies are trying to fit in with the whole social whirl of this i

UK - International lighting design consultants Light Bureau have announced the departure of design director, Paul Nulty. After 11 years with the practice he has left the company. Nulty's ambition to set up and run his own practice, Paul Nulty Lighting Design, is the reason behind his departure, says the company.

Light Bureau Principal, Paul Traynor said: "It has been a pleasure working with Paul and I sincerely wish him every success with his new company. Paul's commitment to the practice over the years has stood Light Bureau in good stead for the future and we look forward to future collaborations with him."

Paul Nulty added: "I'm very proud of all that we have achieved at Light Bureau and the fantastic team that we have built. I feel it's the perfect time for me to pursue my own venture - it's a very exciting time for me."

A company statement adds: &quo

UK - At the ABTT Show (Royal Horticultural Halls, London - 15th and 16th June), Philips Entertainment Lighting will showcase its latest range of lighting design and technical solutions from Philips Selecon, Phillips Strand Lighting and Philips Vari-lite.

Focus will be on the raft of exciting new LED fixtures from Philips Selecon and Philips Vari-lite along with the latest breakthroughs in control, networking and distribution from Philips Strand Lighting. The Philips team will also welcome new staff members Matt Hallard and David March, both already familiar faces to many members of the industry, especially those that enjoy the pleasures of working with the Vari-lite range of fixtures.

Graham Eales Regional Manager EMEA for Philips Entertainment Lighting says: "These are exciting times for the team at PEL. Over the last few weeks we've seen some exciting changes implemente

UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light is now often called upon to provide lighting installations to schools around the country, but the company recently provided a system far from the normal 'theatre-style' installation to the Oaklands School, a secondary school for children with severe learning difficulties in Isleworth, London.

The school was creating a new sensory space for its pupils, aiming to use the power of lighting to change the mood of the room. To achieve this, White Light supplied an amBIENT XClighting controller, a device specially designed to automatically create spectacular lighting effects based on exterior inputs with no user involvement required. White Light also supplied a series of colour-changing LED fittings around the hexagonal room, 12 fixtures washing the walls and 12 uplighting the domed roof.

The controller was then configured to take a

UK - On 18 June, The National Theatre will see a group of bikers, hailing from all sectors of the entertainment technology industry, set off on an eight-day motorbike tour of fascinating and historical UK theatres. Their mission: To raise as much money as they can for industry charity The Theatrical Guild (TTG).

At 10am, having fuelled themselves with a hearty, al fresco, breakfast, the chequered flag will be lowered and they will be on their way. However they will not be alone. A group of police motorbike outriders will accompany them, out of London to the A11.

Stars of the stage and screen, including West end actress Liz Robertson, James Fleet and a host of others, will be waving them off.

Rob Barnard, head of technical resources at The National Theatre says, "I am delighted to be involved with such a fabulous event. I will be doing the ride for the second year runnin

UK / USA - White Light congratulates lighting designers Paule Constable and Brian MacDevitt, winners of this year's Tony Award for, respectively, Best Lighting Design of a Play and Best Lighting Design of a Musical at New York's s theatre award ceremony, which took place this Sunday 12 June.

Paule Constable won the prize for her dramatic lighting of War Horse ,the smash-hit play which was created at London's National Theatre, then transferred to the New London Theatre with a rig supplied by White Light. The New York production of the show opened at the Lincoln Centre this Spring, to great acclaim.

The work of many other members of the show's creative team was also rewarded by the Tony voters, Rae Smith receiving the award for Best Scenic Design of a Play, Christopher Shutt winning the Best Sound Design of a Play category, writer Nick Stafford collecting the Best Play aw

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